Steering device.



ATTORNEY.

H. E. BAYLY.

Patented Dec.27,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' INVENTOR. I)! E Bayly.

STEERING DEVICE APPLICATION FILED 1:20.17, 1909.

WITNESSES H. E. BAYLY.

STEERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.17, 1909.

79,41 1 Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

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INVENTOR.

HARRY E. BAYLY, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO RAY-MOND G. BURLINGAME AND ONE-THIRD TO HARRY M. MCGORMACK, OF INDIANAPO-LIS, INDIANA.

STEERING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY E. BAYLY, of Indianapolis, county of Marion,and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful SteeringDevice; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved steeringapparatus for automobiles and the like, which is easy to operate, ispositive in its transmission of power and movement of parts, simple inconstruction, and can be kept tightened up as it wears, so that therewill be no looseness or lay of the steering apparatus.

The chief feature of the invention consistsin providing a head on thelower end of the steering shaft having a plain cam surface extendingtransversely of the axis of the shaft and at an acute angle to a planecutting the axis of the shaft at a right angle.

Another feature consists in providing a rocking lever adapted to beconnected with the wheels to be steered, and the upper end of which isin frictional engagement with said cam surface, so that if the camsurface is oscillated on the axis of the steering shaft, it will give arocking or oscillating movement to said lever.

Another feature consists in providing a casing preferably sphericalwhich incloses the upper end of said lever and the cam head of thesteering shaft and provided with means for tightening said partstogether when desired so as to avoid any friction.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanyingdrawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of said steering apparatuswith the upper part of the steering shaft and tube broken away, and witha lever centrally broken away. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectionthrough Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1 and showingthe bottom view of the casing. Fig. 4 is a section on a planetransversely of the section shown in Fig. 2, that is, on the line 4-4 ofFig. 2 with an altered position of the parts in dotted lines. Fig. 5 isa perspectlve View of the cam on the end of the steering shaft, thelatter being partly broken away. Fig. 6 is a plan view of asemi-cylindrical member between the cam on the steerng shaft and thehead of the lever. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the head of the leverand the adjacent portion of the lever. the lower part thereof beingbroken away.

In the drawings there is shown a substantially spherical casing or shell10 which is connected with or may form a part of the frame 11 that issecured to the bolts 12 of a bar 13 which extends transversely of theframe of the automobile. However, the part 11 may be secured in anysuitable manner so as to hold the casing 10 substantially 1n theposition shown. This casing is made of two parts, the lower and upper,and they have ears on each side which are secured to gether by the bolts15. The upper part is only partly spherical, it having an enlargedupwardly extending bearing portion 16 and a reduced bearing portion 17extending upwardly therefrom. The housing tube 20 is secured in theupper extension 17 of the easing, as shown in Fig. 2. The steering shaft21 projects through said tube 20, having steering wheel on the upperend, not shown, and at the lower end said shaft has an enlarged portion22 that has bearing in the ex tensions 1G and 17 and projects into theshell 10 and has on the lower end thereof a cam heads or portion 23,said parts 21, 22 and 23 being shown integral. The cam head 23 is oflarger diameter than the part 22 above it, and upon its enlarged portiona series of balls 24 are located that are in a ball-race in the bearingring 25 that lies within the portion 16 of the casing. This constitutesa ball bearing between the casing and the cam head 23, and said cam headis forced down to its work by adjusting screws 26 that operate throughthe casing, as shown in Fig. 1. The cam surface on the portion 23 is afiat surface extending at a slight angle, about twenty degrees, from aplane perpendicular to the axis of the steering shaft.

The lever 30 has on its lower end a ball 31 or anyformation whereby itmay beconnected with the parts running to the wheels said lever 30 isadapted to be moved or os cillated laterally, as shown in Fig. l, withinthe bearing portion 34. The head 32 on the lever 30 is provided with asemi-cylindrical socket or recess 37 extending trans versely of thedevice and longitudinally of the head 32, as shown in Fig. 7, and inthis socket a semi-cylindrical transversely rocking bearing member 40 isloosely placed. The form of that member is shown 111 F 1g. 6. It has aflat upper surface and a cylindrical lower surface and in the lowersurface there is a recess 41 transversely of it into which the pin 42from the head 32 loosely projects. The purpose of the pin and slot is toprevent any tendency of the member 40 having longitudinal movement. Thecam surface on the lower end of the steering shaft bears flatly againstthe flat upper surface of the intermediate member et0,'as shown in Fig.2, and the lever 30 preferably projects away from the lower end of thesteering shaft at an angle of about twenty degrees, considered withreference to a line in continuation of the axis of said shaft, as shownin Fig. 2, but said lever normally lies in the same vertical plane asthe steering shaft, that is, in a position midway between the twopositions shown for said lever in Fig. at.

In operation, when the steering shaft is oscillated slightly to theleft, the lever will be thrown from its straight position to thefull-line position shown in Fig. t, that is, to the right, for suchlefthand movement of the steering shaft will turn the cam head from thenormal position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 4, and the camhead will cause a corresponding but opposite oscillatory movement of thehead on the lever 30 and of the intermediate member 40, as shown in Fig.st. An opposite oscillation of the steering shaft, namely, turning it tothe right, will turn the cam head to the clotted-line position shown inFig. at, which will throw the lever to the left to the dotted-lineposition. Hence slight oscillatory movements of the steering shaft fromone side to the other will cause the oscillatory movement of the lever30 and steer the apparatus as desired. The normal position of the camhead may be modified from that shown in Fig. 2.

I claim as my invention 1. A steering apparatus including a steeringshaft with a cam head having an oblique surface on the extreme endthereof, a casing surrounding said cam head, a lever with one endoscillatably mounted in said casing, and a transversely rocking bearingmember intermediate said end of the lever and the cam head on thesteering shaft.

2. A steering apparatus including a steering shaft with a cam headhaving an oblique surface on the extreme end thereof, a sphericallydisposed casing surrounding said cam head with a slot in the portionremote from said cam head, and a bearing portion projecting inwardlytoward said head which bearing portion has a concave recess, a leverwith one end projecting through said slot in said casing and with itsinner end enlarged and convex so as to fit and rock in the recess insaid bearing portion of the casing and with a semi-cylindrical socket inthe extreme inner surface of said lever, an intermediatesemi-cylindrical member with the convex surface thereof fitting looselyin said socket and with a flat surface bearing against said obliquesurface of the cam head.

3. A steering apparatus including a steering shaft with a cam headhaving an oblique surface on the extreme end thereof, a sphericallydisposed casing surrounding said cam head with a slot in the portionremote from said cam head, and a bearing portion projecting inwardlytoward said head which bearing portion has a concave recess, a leverwith one end projecting through said slot in said casing and with itsinner end enlarged and convex so as to fit and rock in the recess insaid bearing portion of the casing and with a semi-cylindrical socket inthe extreme inner surface of said lever, an intermediatesemi-cylindrical member with the convex surface thereof fitting looselyin said socket and with a flat surface bearing against said obliquesurface of the cam head, and means cooperating with the upper portion ofthe casing for holding the parts in snug engagement with each other.

4. A steering apparatus including a steering shaft with a cam headhaving an oblique surface on the extreme end thereof, a sphericallydisposed casing surrounding said cam head with a slot in the portionremote from said cam head, and a bearing portion projecting inwardlytoward said head which bearing portion has a concave recess, a leverwith one end projecting through said slot in said casing and with itsinner end enlarged and convex so as to fit and rock in the recess insaid bearing portion of the casing and with a semi-cylindrical socket inthe extreme inner surface of said lever, an intermediate semicylindricalmember with the convex surface thereof fitting loosely in said socketand with a fiat surface bearing against said oblique surface of the camhead and having a transverse slot in the underside thereof, and a pin inthe inner end of the lever Which projects into said slot so as to permittransverse movement of said intermediate memher.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presenceof the Witnesses herein named.

V HARRY E. BAYLY.

VVitn'esses G. H. BOINK, O. M. MOLAUGHLIN.

